Description

French beaded Cherry Blossoms and Cherries video class

This comprehensive course was recorded as part of the Seed Beads & More Bead-along in March 2021.

In this course designed for the absolute beginner, I will walk you through every step of making French beaded cherry blossoms. This video course is derived from two patterns from my book “Bead Flora: French Beaded Branches in Bloom.” If you don’t have the book, you will get a link for a complimentary download after you log in to the video class area.

The cherry blossoms were modeled after the “Northstar cherry” variety. Its flowers are white and produce fruit. However, there are so many cherry and cherry blossom varieties out there, I took artistic liberty to make these in pink too. You have the option of making just the cherry blossoms and as you gain more experience, delve in deeper with the cherries.

• Fundamentals of French beaded flowers – 24:55 mins
• Calyx – 7:14 mins
• Bud & Blossoms A – 14:38 mins
• Blossoms B & C – 8:15 mins
• Stamen – 15:04 mins
• Pre-requisite – Basic Frame – 6:50 mins
• Leaves – 15:07 mins
• Pre-requisite – Beehive – 7:51 mins
• Cherries – 12:06 mins
• Assembly – 21:44
• Bonus: Earrings 7:55

Materials:

• 45 grams 11/0 petal color seed beads – Matsuno dynamite ceylon white, matte pink, or rainbow dusty rose (FMG)
• 50 grams 11/0 green seed beads – Matsuno dynamite transparent Emerald green (FMG)
•  < 1 gram 15/0 yellow seed beads – Miyuki opaque Luster Pearl RR422 – FMG)
• 45 feet 24 gauge silver or pink copper-core wire (Parawire)
• 60 feet 24 gauge green copper wire (Zebra wire FMG)
• 23 feet 28 gauge white or pink copper wire (Parawire)
• Brown floral tape – Craft store or Amazon
• Green floral tape – Craft store or Amazon
•  2 lengths of 12 gauge steel wire – 15 & 17 inches (38.1 & 43.1 cm)

Cherries materials :

• 15 grams 11/0 red seed beads – Matsuno dynamite transparent red (FMG)
• 25 feet 26 gauge red wire (Parawire or Zebra wire FMG)

A note about materials:
I use galvanized steel wire that you can get at home improvement stores for the stem
wires. You can also wrap two lengths of 16 gauge stem that you would find at the craft
store. Beware of buying “floral stems” off Amazon. Just because it’s the right “gauge”
doesn’t mean it will hold up heavy beaded flowers. Make sure it’s steel wire.
For the best materials for wire, buy the colors from the recommended sources. Zebra
wire is cheaper and is great in the colored wires. However, they are not so great in
silver or gold. I also love to use Artistic wire. I list Parawire as a source here because
it’s the most economical choice for the wires we are using for this project. I use silver
wire for the white and rainbow pink blossoms and rose gold for the matte pink
blossoms. Depending on the bead color, it’s not always important to have a matching
wire color. However, do get the 28 gauge wire in its corresponding color as the wire will
be part of the design.